A Financial Times report has said that Andrew Griffith (pictured), economic secretary to the Treasury, has raised concerns around Consumer Duty, suggesting it could damage the financial services sector and lead to “spurious lawsuits”.
Sources told The Financial Times that Griffith had been “scathing” about the upcoming legislation in a dinner with senior figures from the sector.
They said he was worried that the regulation would impose new regulatory burden on the sector and go against the Treasury’s moves to relax rules to make the City of London a “Brexit opportunity”.
Sources added Griffith wanted to avoid a “compensation culture” with lots of customer claims of poor outcomes.
They noted that he wanted to ensure the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) had listened to the worries the industry had and to make sure new rules were “proportionate and clear”.
The Treasury and the FCA declined to comment on Griffiths comments on The Financial Times story.
Consumer Duty is the raft of new rules from the FCA which primarily focus on delivering good outcomes for retail customers of the financial sector. It comes into force from 31 July.
A poll by Mortgage Solutions found that around half of mortgage brokers were somewhat prepared and over a quarter said they did not feel prepared at all.
Last week, Sheldon Mills, executive director, consumers and competition at the FCA, said some firms were using “avoidance” tactics and hoped that Consumer Duty would “go away” but urged companies to act as the 31 July deadline would not be moved.
Anna is currently the deputy editor for Mortgage Solutions and editor for Specialist Lending Solutions. She has worked as a journalist since 2019, having secured her Gold Standard NCTJ diploma from News Associates in a fast-track six-month course.
She started her career as a report at specialist publication The Insurance Insider covering a wide range of areas before joining Mortgage Solutions and Specialist Lending Solutions in 2021.
In her role, she helps put together and structure the news agenda for the day and writes up press releases, reports, interviews, analyses and exclusives across both titles. She also commissions blogs for Specialist Lending Solutions and hosts online masterclasses and in-person events across the business.
She has been shortlisted for three journalism awards, which include BIBA Journalist and Media Awards Scoop of Year Award in 2020, Headline Money Mortgage Journalist of the Year Award (B2B) in 2022 and 2023.
Prior to being a journalist, Anna worked in ecommerce across Snow + Rock, Cycle Surgery and Runners Need websites, and before that worked at specialist financial PR firm Rostrum.
In her spare time, Anna enjoys reading, seeing live music, and cooking for friends and family. When she gets a chance, she also enjoys hiking, skiing and indoor rock climbing.
